MANUFACTURING
Identifying Routine and Challenging Clinical Pathogens with MALDITOF MS C The article focuses on the use of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) for advancing clinical microbial identification, specifically in the Microbiology Laboratory at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Tongren Hospital, which has sought to find an alternative to traditional culturing methods for pathogen diagnosis. The article also explains the benefits MALDITOF MS technology has had on the lab and why conventional methods are not suitable for identification of challenging microorganisms, such as those causing fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS).x Xinxin Lu, Director of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Beijing Tongren Hospital
linical microbiology research plays a vital role in improving the diagnosis of infectious diseases, drug guidance, hospital infection control and antimicrobial drug management. Traditional biochemical identification methods are relatively complex and cumbersome and cannot fully meet the requirements of turnover time, sample diversity, and identification accuracy. As a result, hospital laboratories are seeking alternatives to traditional culturing methods for pathogen diagnosis. Unlike traditional biochemical methods, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) determines the protein profile of microbial highabundance proteins (mostly ribosome proteins) and compares their characteristic spectra with proprietary libraries holding reference spectra. Most microorganisms can be accurately identified at the species level. Species-conserved protein sequencing, extensive library references, and strict library quality control processes ensure the accuracy of MALDI-TOF MS identification.
Hospital-wide benefits
Using advanced MALDI-TOF MS technology, a single sample preparation can take only 20 seconds, and approximately 100 samples can be analysed in 60 minutes, greatly improving the speed of identification and the throughput of the hospital laboratory. For critically ill www.pharmafocusasia.com
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